Tasty Ribbon targets the holidays with gift sets focused on Italian cuisine

Giulia Scargetta, Founder of Tasty Ribbon, talks about bestselling, olive oil and managing supply chain disruptions.

Video transcript

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ADAM SHAPIRO: Okay, so as we move into the latter part of the program, we want to invite Giulia Scargetta, the founder of Tasty Ribbon, into the stream as part of our small business spotlight. And I was going to say that the only thing better than Italian food is the Italian food of real Italians.

GIULIA SCARGETTA: Yes.

ADAM SHAPIRO: From Italy, and that’s what Tasty Ribbon does. I’m just going to turn the floor over to you, because it didn’t occur to me until we were prepping for this segment, what a wonderful idea for a holiday gift, Christmas present, Hanukkah gift, little does matter, Kwanzaa. It would be a great gift. You don’t have to make the fruit cake, you can make real things that people will eat. Then tell us about Tasty Ribbon.

GIULIA SCARGETTA: Yes of course. I founded Tasty when I moved here to New York in 2018 from Milan. And actually I started Tasty out of personal need, because when I was here I had a few friends in California and each time we would talk about Italian food and Italian culture and Italy in general. . So on the anniversary, I just wanted to give them something really authentic, really Italian.

And so I started to google and really, I couldn’t find anything that was really what I was looking for and I really screamed Italian. That’s why I created Tasty, just to bring the flavors and products I grew up with when I was in Italy here in the United States. And I think we do it with a twist, because everything we do is really high end, is really premium, and also our gift experience is really unique. So I think this is something worthwhile for the new generation of donors and recipients.

ADAM SHAPIRO: I absolutely can, I’m on the site right now and looking at olive oils. Because I have to tell you, a really good bottle of extra virgin olive oil, you know. You actually go directly to the farms, to the artisans who create these products.

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GIULIA SCARGETTA: Yes, of course.

ADAM SHAPIRO: How impatient are they; everyone loves to sell a product, but how eager are they to help provide you for those of us in the United States?

GIULIA SCARGETTA: No, they are great. I think they really are the best, because I mean you really feel the passion that they put into their products. And that’s why I like working with them, not depending on distributors or importers, because I just want to work directly with the manufacturers. And I really want to only pick the best of the best and be able to bring the best products here.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Disclosure, my big word today, disclosure. I lived in Spain at one point, I love Manchego cheese. I know you sell Italian cheese. Does it come, if I were to buy from the site, is the cheese in some kind of refrigerated box or is it the kind of cheese that doesn’t need to be refrigerated?

GIULIA SCARGETTA: We had hard cheese so they didn’t need to be refrigerated. But of course, we insulate, we use insulation to make sure that the cheese arrives at its destination.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Who is buying? Who are your biggest customers? Are these people like me who are just hungry all the time? Or are they women, are they men?

GIULIA SCARGETTA: I would say our target audience is men and women between the ages of 25 and 55 who live in the biggest cities here in the United States, namely Los Angeles, Miami, New York, of course. But I mean, at the end of the day, it’s really everyone who’s looking for an amazing gift and a memorable gift experience. This is what I would say.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Is there a number one popular product for the holidays? I mean, honestly, I think olive oil is a great gift, because really good olive oil, you know, doesn’t come cheap. It’s not expensive, but it’s not a throwaway. But what do you think is the most popular gift that people give?

GIULIA SCARGETTA: Now we have pasta for sure. So we have our amazing box called Pasta 1-O-1. And also now for the holidays we are selling panettones like crazy. Panettone that’s it, it’s an Italian cake, a traditional cake that we usually eat for Christmas. And it’s delicious.

ADAM SHAPIRO: I think of Canada’s Nanaimo Bar, but that’s another segment. I just have to ask you, getting things from Italy to the United States, we keep hearing about supply chain issues. Do you have these issues or are you arriving by air freight and you don’t really have to worry about it?

GIULIA SCARGETTA: We use – we use both. So we have shipments from – you know, by air and some by sea. I mean, we’re trying to be prepared. That’s why we stock, we stock all of our products in advance. So I think five or six months just to be ready for the holidays.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Forgive my Italian, but I worked years ago with a guy called Bruno, who was from Italy. He always said, the secret is always the [INAUDIBLE]. And then he said when we had lunch, ate, ate.

GIULIA SCARGETTA: Mangia, mangia.

ADAM SHAPIRO: So congratulations on the business. Continuous success.

GIULIA SCARGETTA: Thank you.

Giulia Scargetta, Tasty Ribbon, you are the founder. The website is Tasty Ribbon, and you can go grab your Christmas presents right now.